"Where there is cleanliness there is god. This has been our old tradition, special emphasis was given on cleanliness in villages," Rajnath Singh said while launching Swachh Bharat campaign at Charbagh railway station here.

"We will make India clean by 2019. When the country is clean then only it is healthy. In 2019, on the occasion Gandhi Jayanti, we take a pledge to dedicate a 'Swachh Bharat' (clean India) in the feet of Bapu," the Union minister said.

The minister appealed to the people to try to keep their office and home clean.

"In our country, Earth is considered as mother. Rivers, mountains and snakes are worshipped here, but the so-called progressive countries had been continuously saying that India is a country of primitive civilisation," he said.

"Now the countries of the world have accepted that if we have to protect environment, we have to keep the rivers clean and stop felling of trees," he added.